In his new book, the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley derides Andrew Tate, a social media influencer and self-proclaimed “king of toxic masculinity”, for “sleeping with as many women as possible, berating them, abusing them and celebrating it all as manly, as ‘freedom’”.
Criticising Tate for “fake bravado” and “endless boasting”, Hawley adds: “Every man who has been in a locker room recognises the type … those aren’t the words of a man; those are the words of a child pretending to be a man.”
The senator’s evocation of “a locker room” could be an allusion to Donald Trump, who as Republican candidate for president in 2016 memorably dismissed as “locker room talk” the Access Hollywood tape, hot-mic audio in which he described kissing and grabbing women – even by the genitals – without their consent.
But it isn’t. Hawley does not mention Trump even once in his new book, Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.
The book will be published in the US next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.
The Guardian contacted Hawley for comment, asking if his criticism of Tate could and should be applied to Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. No reply was forthcoming.
Tate was arrested in Romania in December, on charges of organised crime, rape and human trafficking.
Hawley has been viewed as a possible contender for the Republican nomination in 2024 but has said he will not run. He has also dismissed rumours that Trump, who enjoys clear leads in polling despite deepening legal jeopardy on a number of fronts, would pick him as his running mate.
“Nobody wants to be vice-president,” Hawley said.
But Hawley has also said, in what the Washington Post said was close to an endorsement: “Trump is going to be the nominee, I think it’s inevitable. After what Alvin Bragg did, I think that Donald Trump is absolutely going to be the nominee, and yeah, I’ll support him.”
Alvin Bragg is the Manhattan district attorney who last month charged Trump with 34 felony counts related to his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, regarding her claims of a sexual affair. Trump denies the affair but spent $130,000 to quieten Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
In his new book, in which Trump is conspicuous by his absence, Hawley dwells at length on pornography and its deleterious influence over modern American men.
Trump has been married three times, has frequently bragged about his sexual conquests and has seen his infidelity widely documented by tabloid media.
In 2019, Barry Levine and Monique el-Faizy published a book on the subject, All the President’s Women.
More than 20 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct or assault. He denies all wrongdoing but one civil case is now at trial in New York.
E Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleges that Trump raped her in a New York department store changing room in the mid-1990s.
In video of Trump’s deposition released to the public last week, Trump was asked about the Access Hollywood tape and his claim to be able to grab women “by the pussy” because, as a star, he could “do anything”.
Trump said: “Well historically, that’s true with stars.”
He was asked: “It’s true you can grab them by the pussy?”
He said: “Well, if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”
“You consider yourself a star?”
“I think you can say that, yeah.”
Trump was also asked if he had seen other women while married to his first wife, Ivana Trump. He answered: “I don’t know.”
Trump’s affair with Marla Maples, who eventually became his second wife and to whom he was married at the time of the alleged attack on Carroll, was a tabloid staple in the 1980s. One famous New York tabloid headline, engineered by Trump, saw Maples proclaim him the provider of the “Best Sex I’ve Ever Had”.
In his new book about Manhood, writing about Andrew Tate, Hawley condemns an “idea of success [that] apparently involved sleeping with as many women as possible, berating them, abusing them and celebrating it all as manly, as ‘freedom’”.
The senator, who has said he will support Trump for president, adds: “Every man who has been in a locker room recognises the type. The fake bravado, the endless boasting.
“Those aren’t the words of a man; those are the words of a child pretending to be a man he thinks someone will like or respect.”
